Shaodws of Nothing
by Silent-Silver-Shadows
Summary: Third time's the charm! Anyways, this is the story of the daughter of Harry Potter and her first year at Hogwarts, enjoy!
1. C1: Letters From No One

a quick little note! The character's name Elle is pronounced El not Elly. Thank you!

Chapter One: Letters from No One

Merrily in the hearth the fire happily danced as the four orphans gathered around it, laughing. It was just before dinner, and now was some of the only down time they had between chores. It was a good life they had, better than most orphans of magical birth. Lying on his stomach in the center of the large rug that covered the wooden floor attempting to read but failing utterly as he laughed along with his siblings was Edward. Tall and pencil like, he was thirteen with kind hazel eyes and a mess of honey colored hair.

William was sitting in an armchair, clutching his side as he twisted with laughter. His identical twin Henry lounged on the sofa, laughing just as heartily. Both had the same short brown hair and different colored eyes. Both of their left eyes were amber while the right was a greenish brown mix. They were the eldest at fifteen, but acted very much as the youngest did.

Ellerianna was eleven, and was sitting on an arm of the sofa, laughing along with her brothers. Her elbow length black hair twisted back in a braid, her green eyes dancing brightly with the fire. For four orphaned wizarding children you would never know they weren't related. They were all very good friends, and they all looked out for each other (which included the twins being over protective of little Elle).

Into the room bustled Mrs. Hawkins. She was a large woman with a merry temperament. Her mousy hair was always curled and pinned on top of her head. An apron was always spanning her portly middle. Her black eyes examined the living room, taking in where every one was. She chucked herself before slicking her wand at little bell in the corner of the room. As it tolled with a light tinkling sound the orphans stopped talking and all looked back at Mrs. Hawkins.

"Dinner times little ones," she said happily, turning back into the kitchen. It was a race to stand, but soon all four of the orphans were seated in their places around the table. At the head sat Mrs. Hawkins, at the far end, and empty place marked where her husband used to sit, before he disappeared. To Mrs. Hawkins' right sat William and Edward, to her left, Henry and Elle. They waited quietly, some of the laughter still bubbling in their eyes.

"Any mail come, mum?" Edward asked eagerly as she waved her wand at the empty plates on the table. The plates filled with Mrs. Hawkins' excellent cooking, they all hurriedly filled their plates, waiting for her answer.

"Now that you mention it Edward, these came just a few moments ago," she said, flicking her wand at a stack of white parchment envelopes. They all levitated into the outstretched hands of Mrs. Hawkins. She flicked through each and called out the names written on them. "Mr. W Hawkins," she called as she passed William his envelope, "Mr. H Hawkins," that was Henry's, " Mr. E Hawkins," Edward, "and look at this. Miss E Hawkins."

Elle eagerly took her envelope, her first ever envelope from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! For the past 4 years she'd watched Will and Henry get their letters, and then only 3 years ago Edward had started getting them and now she finally had one! She'd finally be going to school with her siblings! She wanted to jump up and down and holler for joy, but she didn't. Instead she tore into the envelope, gorging on the letter inside.

"Wow," Will stated, "Looks like Professor Mars got the deputy headmaster job."

"An' look," Edward said, "Professor Penndragon got Order of Merlin 2nd Class! That wasn't there last year."

"Knew he'd get tha' some time!" Henry said, checking his equipment list, " 'sa surprise they assigned so many books to us for potions. Professor Ulric usually isn't this bad. An' Professor Halvord usually doesn't make us get more than two books, incredible! We get to dedicate an entire book to Nocturnal creatures! Mus' have somethin to do with ol' Grayback, eh? Think he's been causin' trouble?"

"Perhaps," William said, "the only thing I can't wait for is Quidditch."

"Of course you can't wait! Your captain of the Ravenclaw team this year! Got any ideas on who you want as your new seeker?" Edward asked, taking a bite of his macaroni.

"Nope, there was a third year last year who was decent, but we'll see who turns up at try outs," William shrugged, "the big thing for me is winning the cup. I've been training up hard for this season."

"An' I'm sure as our resident chaser you'll be driving your team crazy with plays and such," Henry said, toying with his fork. Henry was a beater for the Gryffindor team, and Edward was Hufflepuff's back up Keeper. A quidditch filled family, and Elle felt left out, she'd never even been on a broom before! How was she going to keep up the tradition if she didn't get on her house team (whatever house that was).

"Enough chatter!" Mrs. Hawkins snapped, "Finish your dinner and get to bed! We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. Elle, I'll be up soon to brush out your hair," she said as Elle stood to go put her plate in the sink. Elle nodded and said goodnight to her brothers, who merrily returned her gesture.

"What a day," she sighed as she walked up the old wooden stairs to her bedroom. She walked quietly into her room, which the year before had held another girl; only she'd been adopted. Elle could still remember her, a lean red head, and the snobby sort. Elle had really never liked her, she'd been really mean. It took a second for Elle to realize that something about her room was different; sitting on her bed was a little package. Why was it there? Elle never got mail other than what Mrs. Hawkins got.

She carefully strode over to it and noticed the card attached. Carefully she pulled it away from the parcel and read:

For Ella

There was no signature, just the neatly handwritten note; she tucked it into her pocket before tugging at the strings to reveal a little box. Carefully she lifted the lid, and inside were many things. She turned it upside down and dumped the contents onto her bed. A number of things spilled out, some things had little notes attached to them. Eagerly she went through the contents: a glass sculpture of a Knight on horseback, a photo of a baby, written on the back was: Ella – 2 Days Old. This brought tear to her eyes. Her parents, or some one who had known them, must have sent this box. Also inside was a little mesh bag filled with an assortment of little rock of different shades of blue and green. There was also a little golden key with a note wrapped around it in the same neat little handwriting as the first note: _What's in vault 687 belongs to you as well._

The last thing was the most puzzling. Did vault 687 belong to her parents? Is that way whatever was in it belonged to her as well. When Mrs. Hawkins came up to brush Elle's hair, she showed everything to her. The woman was shocked and pleased, they must have known how much these little things would mean to her.

"I knew it was only a matter of time," she sighed, looking into Elle's curious green eyes.

"What was only a matter of time?" She asked innocently.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before they regained contact with you. See, when you were left in my care, it was to keep you from danger." She held up her hand to stop the oncoming wave of questions she saw rising in Elle, "little one I can tell you no more. I was sworn to secrecy, and if I tell, terrible things could happen. Until they reclaim you, you are still my little one. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." She said as she climbed into bed.

"Good night," Mrs. Hawkins said, kissing her on the forehead, "I'll be up in the morning."

Elle lay there, in the darkness just thinking. Thinking about who her parents were and why they'd abandoned her. What danger was she being protected from? Why had it taken them nine years to find her again? Why were they sending her little notes with no names attached? Whatever their reasons for keeping their names from her, she'd find out when the time was right.

Cradling the thought that her parents were still out there and still wanted her, sent Elle peacefully to sleep.


	2. C2: New Firneds, New Enemies, New Starts

Chapter Two: New Friends, New Enemies, New Beginnings

"Take care!" Ms. Fawn said as she finally let Elle out of a squeezing embrace. "Henry, William, you'll look after your sister won't you?" She asked as put a hand on each of their cheeks and kissed them on the forehead.

"We will mum," Henry said, jerking out of her grasp. He didn't like the whole touchy feely goodbyes; after all they were only going away to school.

"Now Elle, if you need anythin' at all you send an owl, hear?" She said as she grasped her tightly.

"I will mum!" Elle said, trying to free herself. She was assisted by the train whistle that blared a few short seconds afterward. "Oh dear! Hurry now! Hurry! That'll be the train!" Elle quickly bounded after Edward, Henry and Will as they'd tried escaping to the train. The four quickly found an empty compartment and stuck their heads out the window and waved to their foster mother.

"I'm counting on you boys! Write often! Elle! Take care!" Ms. Fawn called as the train began to lug out of the station.

"We will!" The orphans all called back in unison, waving to their foster mother as she slowly passed out of sight. Finally the train rounded a bend and the station disappeared from sight. Will snapped the window shut as they all gathered in the empty train car.

"Well, I'm off," said Henry, turning to hunt down his fellow 5th year Gryffindors who were lurking some where on the train.

"Wait up!" Edward called, chasing after him. Edward was indeed the tag along, though he was a Hufflepuff he was still good friends with a number of Gryffindors.

"You'll be alright, Elle?" Will asked as he prepared to join his friends. "If you want I could stay with you." She noticed it was a reluctant offer, but she knew he meant well.

"Yeah I'll be fine," she said, sliding onto one of the plush seats, "go on! I'll see you later!" Will smiled and disappeared along the corridor, calling back that he'd stop by to check on how she was getting on. She smirked slightly as she leaned against the window, her green eyes gazing at the countryside that was passing quickly on both sides of the train. It was only a few moments before Elle jumped at a knock on her compartment door.

"Is this box taken?" A girl with vibrant red hair asked, her amber eyes glowing on a freckled face; she was around the same age as Elle, perhaps even the same year. She appeared a little out of place, but then again all first years did (or that was at least what will told her).

"Nope," Elle said, "I'm the only one." She turned slightly to face the girl who sat across from her. "I'm Ellerianna Hawkins."

"Wow, that's a mouthful. I'm Lyn," She said, leaning forward to shake Elle's ha, "Lyn Weasly."

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Elle, my brother's do." She smiled, hoping that she'd be able to become friends with the Weasly girl.

"You're not related to Will, Henry and Edward are you?" Lyn asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, why?" Elle asked a little puzzled.

"Right, I knew it! My sisters told me all about the Hawkins boys! My sister Nora, she's a fourth year, has the biggest crush on Henry! She couldn't stop talking about him all summer! Then there's Melanie, she's a 5th year, and she cannot shut up about William. She was all 'Will this' and 'Will that'. I swear I was gunna be sick!"

"Yeah, I heard my brothers were pretty popular." Elle said, laughing as Lyn impersonated her sister.

"No, they're _the _most popular boys in school. What with Will being the Captain of the Ravenclaw team this year and Henry being Gryffindor's star beater an' all. I'm surprised you can handle being around them." Lyn said as she emphasized why Elle's brothers were so talked about.

"It's all good fun really, I like listening to them talk about plays and maneuvers. How many sibling do you have other than your two sisters?" Elle asked Lyn, she was just curious because form the way Lyn talked it was as if she had a huge family.

"Six," Lyn announced proudly, "four sisters and two brothers." She went on to describe them. "The eldest is Victoria, she's a 7th year with a bit of a nasty temper. Then there's TJ, he's a 6th year and like a big teddy bear, really sensitive and understanding. Behind him by a year are Melanie and Michael, twins. Watch out for them, big trouble, they take after my uncles I swear! Already told you about Nora the 4th year and then Sabrina's a 2nd year ahead of me. Almost all of them are in Gryffindor, save Melanie. She's a Ravenclaw, also the only one with blond hair. She likes to pretend she isn't related to the lot of us." They shared a good laugh as Lyn described her siblings.

"I've only got my three: Will, Henry and Eddy. Although, I'm the only one who can get away with calling him that," Elle said, remarking on the nickname she'd given her brother.

"They ditch you like my lot did?" Lyn asked, leaning back with her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, only Will offered to stay but I sent him off to be with his friends, and I think Henry didn't want another tag along. Eddy half wishes he was a Gryffindor I think. He enjoys his house though I know he does." Elle said. For a while the girls chatted about Hogwarts and the different stories they'd heard about the different teachers. Lyn asked what it was like, to have only three siblings. "It must be awful dull at your house."

"Not at all! It's really funny, because Edward is always chasing Henry because Henry's taken something of his. Will's always trying to break them up, but gives in and starts chasing me because I've got nothing else to do! And they're always making me laugh! It's always an adventure for us, I love my family." Elle said, laughing as she remembered some of the better chase scenes that had played out just this past summer.

"Don't get me wrong!" Lyn said, "I love my family too, just not all of them. I could defiantly due without Victoria! I suppose I could get rid of Michael too, he's always so annoying. I wouldn't mind trapping the 'fan girls', as dad calls them, in a vanishing cabinet." Elle chucked as Lyn schemed on how to rid herself of her more annoying siblings.

The door of the compartment gave a little squeak as a stout girl in their age group slid it open. Her short blond hair and watery blue eyes made her look like a blond mouse a well-fed blond mouse. "Sorry," she squeaked, "just wondering any of you'd seen a turtle, he's always scampering away from me."

"Nope," Lyn and Elle said together. Sighing the girl hurried off to search other compartments, "how do you lose a turtle? Honestly?"

"Beats me," Elle said, shrugging and laughing slightly.

"Hey Elle," Lyn said, her head cocked to the side (it was a habit of hers, when she was thinking), "what sort of animal do you have? I've got Fiji." Out of her pocket she pulled the small rat. It wasn't the dirty sort of rat, but the white and black spotted kind you could buy at a Muggle pet store.

"Lyn! Is that a rat?" Elle asked, stating the obvious.

"No duh! I got him in Diagon ally yesterday.

"Oh! He's cute!" Elle said ("She," Lyn corrected), "I've got a Barn Owl. Her name's Moon Face." This said the owl gave a soft hoot from inside her cage as her name was mentioned. Lyn gave a sudden start; clearly she hadn't seen Moon Face in her cage. "You really need to be aware of your surroundings."

"Mel says that," Lyn grumbled, allowing Fiji to crawl back into her pocket. "Won't eat Fiji will she?"

"No, Moon Face knows what's food and what isn't," Elle informed Lyn. They were interrupted again when the door slid open with a slight jerk this time. There was another student around their same year standing in the doorway; only he was tall and skinny. His messy blond hair was sticking up on odd ends, his dark blue eyes hid behind a pair of round glasses.

"Either of you seen a turtle? Charlie's lost hers," He asked, their response was once more no, he began to leave, only to turn right back around. "The prefects informed us that we'd be arriving shortly so you might want to change."

"Thanks," Elle said curtly, sending him away.

"God! You'd think the turtle just popped into thin air." Lyn said with a wave of her hand, at that exact moment a faint popping sound was heard and a purple and green turtle appeared next to Lyn, who yelped and jumped into the air, "ok! I did not mean literally!" This sent Elle into a fit of laughter as she doubled up in her seat.

"Grab it before it disappears again!" Elle said, regaining her self-control. Lyn scooped it up in both hands and went to hunt down this 'Charlie' she returned a few minutes later with a bag full of Pumpkin Muffins. "She was ever so happy that we'd found Kiwi she just had to find some way to thank me," Lyn grumbled as she tossed the muffins at Elle who gratefully snapped one up. The Trolley stopped by a few minutes later and the two gratefully purchased Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Beans, Cauldron Cakes and Licorice Wands. As she snacked on the sweets they continued to chat when their door slid open _again_, only this time it was Will.

"Wow!" He said as he spotted the sweets and shook his head. "I see you've made a friend Elle."

"Oh! Will this is Lyn Weasly, Lyn this is my brother Will!" She quickly introduced the two as she finished swallowing what she'd been eating.

"Nice to meet you," Lyn said as she nodded to Will, her eyes wide.

"Another Weasly, 'eh? Welcome aboard. Any ways, you two should change soon. I expect we'll be there sometime in the next thirty minutes." With that he waved and headed back down the trail, informing students of how close they were to arrival. Quickly they dug into their trunks to find their school robes, only a few moments later they were fully dressed and making sure everything was secure in their trucks. Elle checked Moon Face's cage and the locks on her trunk. Lyn was trying to coax Fiji into a little cage but the rat was reluctant to leave Lyn's pocket. "Come on Fiji, please!"

"Just grab her," Elle said, taking a light hold of Fiji's tail and transplanting the rat from the shirt pocket to the cage. Fiji gave a squeak of unhappiness, but stayed perfectly still until Elle let go of her. Lyn quickly locked up the rat's cage and the two sat once more and looked out the window. It was dark out now, the trees were close together in an impenetrable wall of foliage, the sky was gray and black with clouds, the moon was halfway to its midpoint in the sky, and it was getting late.

Finally the train lurched to a top and every one inside was ordered out in an orderly fashion. Elle gulped and looked reluctantly at each other when Will returned. "Didn't think I'd leave you alone did you?" He said slyly, "Besides, I can't have my little sister messing up my reputation!" He quickly dodged Elle before escorting the girls off the train with all the other students. A green lantern floated high in the air and Elle found herself staring at it. Time slowed momentarily as she gazed into that green light and felt cold, as if something terrible had happened in the eerie glowing green light, it was a horrible feeling.

"Well, well," A cold voice said, bringing her back down to earth, "if it isn't another Weasly, and look, another one of the Orphans." A tall boy, probably a fourth year or so, stood before them in the school uniform. His black eyes burned with a strange hunger inside his skull, the thuggish boys around him were all big and thickly muscled, Elle felt sick, as they seemed to close in on them.

"Back off Morgrin," Will snarled. Elle had never seen him like this; his hand was already leaning toward his wand, would a fight break out on the platform?

Morgrin shrugged and howled out laughter, "Say what you like Hawkins, you can't frighten me."

"Your point being?" Henry asked as he walked up beside his twin. A pair of tough looking red head strolled up and leaned against Lyn, they must have been Melanie and Michael.

"Nothing," Morgrin snarled sarcastically, "I just felt like warning you, that's all." He smiled wolfishly before walking off.

"That was close," Will said, "watch out for him. Morgrin can be a bit nasty sometimes, ok all the time."

"Don't worry," Elle said, "I can take care of myself ya know."

"Anyways!" Henry said clasping her on the shoulders, "head towards the green lantern, don't look him in the eye, and have a nice ride! We'll see you up at the castle."

"Wait," Elle said, "what! Henry! Will? Edward?" No one offered and explanation, but a shove in the lantern's direction. She and Lyn walked forward reluctantly and had to muffle gasps as they saw what awaited them. "A centaur!" Lyn whispered excitedly, "I've never seen one up close before!"

"First Years," he said ominously, his equine body a midnight black with four white leg markings that rose to above his knees while his human body was a dark ebony color, the horns on his head sawed down and the fur on his face shaved completely off, "this way."


	3. C3: First Impressions

Chapter Two: New Friends, New Enemies, New Beginnings

"Take care!" Ms. Fawn said as she finally let Elle out of a squeezing embrace. "Henry, William, you'll look after your sister won't you?" She asked as put a hand on each of their cheeks and kissed them on the forehead.

"We will mum," Henry said, jerking out of her grasp. He didn't like the whole touchy feely goodbyes; after all they were only going away to school.

"Now Elle, if you need anythin' at all you send an owl, hear?" She said as she grasped her tightly.

"I will mum!" Elle said, trying to free herself. She was assisted by the train whistle that blared a few short seconds afterward. "Oh dear! Hurry now! Hurry! That'll be the train!" Elle quickly bounded after Edward, Henry and Will as they'd tried escaping to the train. The four quickly found an empty compartment and stuck their heads out the window and waved to their foster mother.

"I'm counting on you boys! Write often! Elle! Take care!" Ms. Fawn called as the train began to lug out of the station.

"We will!" The orphans all called back in unison, waving to their foster mother as she slowly passed out of sight. Finally the train rounded a bend and the station disappeared from sight. Will snapped the window shut as they all gathered in the empty train car.

"Well, I'm off," said Henry, turning to hunt down his fellow 5th year Gryffindors who were lurking some where on the train.

"Wait up!" Edward called, chasing after him. Edward was indeed the tag along, though he was a Hufflepuff he was still good friends with a number of Gryffindors.

"You'll be alright, Elle?" Will asked as he prepared to join his friends. "If you want I could stay with you." She noticed it was a reluctant offer, but she knew he meant well.

"Yeah I'll be fine," she said, sliding onto one of the plush seats, "go on! I'll see you later!" Will smiled and disappeared along the corridor, calling back that he'd stop by to check on how she was getting on. She smirked slightly as she leaned against the window, her green eyes gazing at the countryside that was passing quickly on both sides of the train. It was only a few moments before Elle jumped at a knock on her compartment door.

"Is this box taken?" A girl with vibrant red hair asked, her amber eyes glowing on a freckled face; she was around the same age as Elle, perhaps even the same year. She appeared a little out of place, but then again all first years did (or that was at least what will told her).

"Nope," Elle said, "I'm the only one." She turned slightly to face the girl who sat across from her. "I'm Ellerianna Hawkins."

"Wow, that's a mouthful. I'm Lyn," She said, leaning forward to shake Elle's ha, "Lyn Weasly."

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Elle, my brother's do." She smiled, hoping that she'd be able to become friends with the Weasly girl.

"You're not related to Will, Henry and Edward are you?" Lyn asked in astonishment.

"Yeah, why?" Elle asked a little puzzled.

"Right, I knew it! My sisters told me all about the Hawkins boys! My sister Nora, she's a fourth year, has the biggest crush on Henry! She couldn't stop talking about him all summer! Then there's Melanie, she's a 5th year, and she cannot shut up about William. She was all 'Will this' and 'Will that'. I swear I was gunna be sick!"

"Yeah, I heard my brothers were pretty popular." Elle said, laughing as Lyn impersonated her sister.

"No, they're _the _most popular boys in school. What with Will being the Captain of the Ravenclaw team this year and Henry being Gryffindor's star beater an' all. I'm surprised you can handle being around them." Lyn said as she emphasized why Elle's brothers were so talked about.

"It's all good fun really, I like listening to them talk about plays and maneuvers. How many sibling do you have other than your two sisters?" Elle asked Lyn, she was just curious because form the way Lyn talked it was as if she had a huge family.

"Six," Lyn announced proudly, "four sisters and two brothers." She went on to describe them. "The eldest is Victoria, she's a 7th year with a bit of a nasty temper. Then there's TJ, he's a 6th year and like a big teddy bear, really sensitive and understanding. Behind him by a year are Melanie and Michael, twins. Watch out for them, big trouble, they take after my uncles I swear! Already told you about Nora the 4th year and then Sabrina's a 2nd year ahead of me. Almost all of them are in Gryffindor, save Melanie. She's a Ravenclaw, also the only one with blond hair. She likes to pretend she isn't related to the lot of us." They shared a good laugh as Lyn described her siblings.

"I've only got my three: Will, Henry and Eddy. Although, I'm the only one who can get away with calling him that," Elle said, remarking on the nickname she'd given her brother.

"They ditch you like my lot did?" Lyn asked, leaning back with her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, only Will offered to stay but I sent him off to be with his friends, and I think Henry didn't want another tag along. Eddy half wishes he was a Gryffindor I think. He enjoys his house though I know he does." Elle said. For a while the girls chatted about Hogwarts and the different stories they'd heard about the different teachers. Lyn asked what it was like, to have only three siblings. "It must be awful dull at your house."

"Not at all! It's really funny, because Edward is always chasing Henry because Henry's taken something of his. Will's always trying to break them up, but gives in and starts chasing me because I've got nothing else to do! And they're always making me laugh! It's always an adventure for us, I love my family." Elle said, laughing as she remembered some of the better chase scenes that had played out just this past summer.

"Don't get me wrong!" Lyn said, "I love my family too, just not all of them. I could defiantly due without Victoria! I suppose I could get rid of Michael too, he's always so annoying. I wouldn't mind trapping the 'fan girls', as dad calls them, in a vanishing cabinet." Elle chucked as Lyn schemed on how to rid herself of her more annoying siblings.

The door of the compartment gave a little squeak as a stout girl in their age group slid it open. Her short blond hair and watery blue eyes made her look like a blond mouse a well-fed blond mouse. "Sorry," she squeaked, "just wondering any of you'd seen a turtle, he's always scampering away from me."

"Nope," Lyn and Elle said together. Sighing the girl hurried off to search other compartments, "how do you lose a turtle? Honestly?"

"Beats me," Elle said, shrugging and laughing slightly.

"Hey Elle," Lyn said, her head cocked to the side (it was a habit of hers, when she was thinking), "what sort of animal do you have? I've got Fiji." Out of her pocket she pulled the small rat. It wasn't the dirty sort of rat, but the white and black spotted kind you could buy at a Muggle pet store.

"Lyn! Is that a rat?" Elle asked, stating the obvious.

"No duh! I got him in Diagon ally yesterday.

"Oh! He's cute!" Elle said ("She," Lyn corrected), "I've got a Barn Owl. Her name's Moon Face." This said the owl gave a soft hoot from inside her cage as her name was mentioned. Lyn gave a sudden start; clearly she hadn't seen Moon Face in her cage. "You really need to be aware of your surroundings."

"Mel says that," Lyn grumbled, allowing Fiji to crawl back into her pocket. "Won't eat Fiji will she?"

"No, Moon Face knows what's food and what isn't," Elle informed Lyn. They were interrupted again when the door slid open with a slight jerk this time. There was another student around their same year standing in the doorway; only he was tall and skinny. His messy blond hair was sticking up on odd ends, his dark blue eyes hid behind a pair of round glasses.

"Either of you seen a turtle? Charlie's lost hers," He asked, their response was once more no, he began to leave, only to turn right back around. "The prefects informed us that we'd be arriving shortly so you might want to change."

"Thanks," Elle said curtly, sending him away.

"God! You'd think the turtle just popped into thin air." Lyn said with a wave of her hand, at that exact moment a faint popping sound was heard and a purple and green turtle appeared next to Lyn, who yelped and jumped into the air, "ok! I did not mean literally!" This sent Elle into a fit of laughter as she doubled up in her seat.

"Grab it before it disappears again!" Elle said, regaining her self-control. Lyn scooped it up in both hands and went to hunt down this 'Charlie' she returned a few minutes later with a bag full of Pumpkin Muffins. "She was ever so happy that we'd found Kiwi she just had to find some way to thank me," Lyn grumbled as she tossed the muffins at Elle who gratefully snapped one up. The Trolley stopped by a few minutes later and the two gratefully purchased Chocolate Frogs, Jelly Beans, Cauldron Cakes and Licorice Wands. As she snacked on the sweets they continued to chat when their door slid open _again_, only this time it was Will.

"Wow!" He said as he spotted the sweets and shook his head. "I see you've made a friend Elle."

"Oh! Will this is Lyn Weasly, Lyn this is my brother Will!" She quickly introduced the two as she finished swallowing what she'd been eating.

"Nice to meet you," Lyn said as she nodded to Will, her eyes wide.

"Another Weasly, 'eh? Welcome aboard. Any ways, you two should change soon. I expect we'll be there sometime in the next thirty minutes." With that he waved and headed back down the trail, informing students of how close they were to arrival. Quickly they dug into their trunks to find their school robes, only a few moments later they were fully dressed and making sure everything was secure in their trucks. Elle checked Moon Face's cage and the locks on her trunk. Lyn was trying to coax Fiji into a little cage but the rat was reluctant to leave Lyn's pocket. "Come on Fiji, please!"

"Just grab her," Elle said, taking a light hold of Fiji's tail and transplanting the rat from the shirt pocket to the cage. Fiji gave a squeak of unhappiness, but stayed perfectly still until Elle let go of her. Lyn quickly locked up the rat's cage and the two sat once more and looked out the window. It was dark out now, the trees were close together in an impenetrable wall of foliage, the sky was gray and black with clouds, the moon was halfway to its midpoint in the sky, and it was getting late.

Finally the train lurched to a top and every one inside was ordered out in an orderly fashion. Elle gulped and looked reluctantly at each other when Will returned. "Didn't think I'd leave you alone did you?" He said slyly, "Besides, I can't have my little sister messing up my reputation!" He quickly dodged Elle before escorting the girls off the train with all the other students. A green lantern floated high in the air and Elle found herself staring at it. Time slowed momentarily as she gazed into that green light and felt cold, as if something terrible had happened in the eerie glowing green light, it was a horrible feeling.

"Well, well," A cold voice said, bringing her back down to earth, "if it isn't another Weasly, and look, another one of the Orphans." A tall boy, probably a fourth year or so, stood before them in the school uniform. His black eyes burned with a strange hunger inside his skull, the thuggish boys around him were all big and thickly muscled, Elle felt sick, as they seemed to close in on them.

"Back off Morgrin," Will snarled. Elle had never seen him like this; his hand was already leaning toward his wand, would a fight break out on the platform?

Morgrin shrugged and howled out laughter, "Say what you like Hawkins, you can't frighten me."

"Your point being?" Henry asked as he walked up beside his twin. A pair of tough looking red head strolled up and leaned against Lyn, they must have been Melanie and Michael.

"Nothing," Morgrin snarled sarcastically, "I just felt like warning you, that's all." He smiled wolfishly before walking off.

"That was close," Will said, "watch out for him. Morgrin can be a bit nasty sometimes, ok all the time."

"Don't worry," Elle said, "I can take care of myself ya know."

"Anyways!" Henry said clasping her on the shoulders, "head towards the green lantern, don't look him in the eye, and have a nice ride! We'll see you up at the castle."

"Wait," Elle said, "what! Henry! Will? Edward?" No one offered and explanation, but a shove in the lantern's direction. She and Lyn walked forward reluctantly and had to muffle gasps as they saw what awaited them. "A centaur!" Lyn whispered excitedly, "I've never seen one up close before!"

"First Years," he said ominously, his equine body a midnight black with four white leg markings that rose to above his knees while his human body was a dark ebony color, the horns on his head sawed down and the fur on his face shaved completely off, "this way."


	4. C4: The First Week

Chapter 4: The First Week

Elle woke with a start, she breathed out shakily before whipping a hand across her forehead and stretching, for some reason the dream that had terrified her so badly had just slipped her mind again, for this was not the first time she'd ever seen it. She couldn't really be sure if it was the same dream, but it always made her start and she always forgot it. She sighed contently as she stretched and looked out the window at the ruddy cloud covered sky, rain still pelting the window lightly.

She glanced over at the clock and blinked stupidly. It was amazing how that stupid dream worked, she always woke up half an hour before she needed to be, oh well, at least it would give her time to get ready. She carefully climbed out of bed and silently walked over to her trunk and flipped open the lid. There wasn't much to choose from, so she quickly snatched up her uniform and hurried to the bathroom to change, on her way back she ran into a couple of third year Ravenclaws who smiled at her kindly, at least some people in this school could be nice, she thought as she remembered the Slytherins from the previous day.

As she quietly climbed the stairs of Gryffindor tower, she was pleasantly surprised to see that the other girls were just beginning to awaken. "What time is it?" Lyn grumbled as she rolled onto her back.

"Time to get up," Elle said cheerfully as she tossed her pajamas into her trunk. She carefully took hold of her wand and held it in her hands, remembering how oddly the man had looked at her in the shop. She could remember his voice, saying that it was the third of a kind and that the other two had been legendary. What was so special about an eleven inch, holly wand that happened to have a phoenix feather in it? To her it was her life, but just another ordinary wand, not something special in any way shape or form. Sighing she shook it off and tapped her hair gently with the wand, it was instantly straight, thinking for a moment she muttered the little spell that twisted her hair into a braided bun on he back of her head, nice and neat for her first day of classes.

She turned to face Lyn as she was slipped her wand into her robes, her friend was yawning non-stop, although she had managed to get dressed and fix her hair into a ponytail. She stretched again and then said: "Are we going to breakfast or what?" Elle laughed and hooker her arm into her friends and the headed down to the Great Hall. It was a long trek, but they finally made it through the double doors and found seats at the end of the Gryffindor table next to Shaun and Noel who were busy chatting about the History of Hogwarts. Lyn rolled her eyes as she began to dig into the food laid out on the table.

"So, how was your night?" Noel asked Elle as he brushed the bangs out of his eyes.

"It was fine, I was a little upset they didn't let Moon Face out of her cage," She said as she took a bite of pancake.

"Moon Face?" Shaun asked sarcastically.

"My barn owl," she said shortly, "she really hates cages." That was the end of conversation, as Elle had no wish to speak to Shaun, she just didn't like him one bit. She looked up as Henry sat down across from her.

"Goon night?" He asked sleepily, it was clear he and the other boys had stayed up later than Elle and Lyn had.

"Yes," Elle said with a smile. "Hey Henry, who's our head of house?" She asked, not sure which of the Teachers was in charge of their house and any house for that matter. Henry blinked at her for a moment before regaining his brain.

"Oh! Professor Halvord is in charge of Gryffindor. He should be coming round with the schedules soon, what with classes starting today," He was looked around at the head table but clearly didn't see who he was looking for, "Let me see, I think Ulric is still head of Slytherin so be careful if you've got classes with 'em. Hmm, I think that Professor Flora took charge of Hufflepuff, not sure," He said slowly, pointing out an older witch with a tall pointed hat on, "at bit loopy that one is. That leaves, Professor Cathol who was head of Ravenclaw last year, so I think it's still her. Not sure though," He said finally after taking a swig of pumpkin juice from his goblet. He looked down at the head of the table and frowned.

"What?" Lyn asked as she looked back and forth from the ends of the tables.

"Halvord isn't passing out the schedules, you're brother is," He said, his face morphing into a puzzled expression. "Not like him to give the job to the Prefects."

"Something must've come up," Elle said as she bit into a sausage.

"So, what's the best class in your opinion?" Shaun asked Henry as he found an opening. The boys went on to talk about classes and it really bugged Elle. Shaun talked about some books he'd read regarding the school and some of its little bits of trivia, she found it all extremely annoying. She zoned until she was handed a piece of parchment by Lyn's eldest brother, she took it and put her head together with Lyn's as they looked over the schedule.

* * *

The caretaker Mr. Trig was like a hawk, hovering in the corridors watching for any one to cause trouble, and he had help too, a crazy old cat who would chase you around as it watched you. It was pretty selective so Elle didn't worry about Mason too much; he was a pretty sweet cat sometimes. He was a scruffy tabby cat with little yellow eyes who enjoyed sitting on top of the clocks and watching you walk past. Most of the students hated Mr. Trig for how strict he was and how annoying he could be, but mostly everybody liked Mason.

To Elle the worst part was the staircases; there were a hundred and forty-two of them (or so said Shaun) that continually changed position making finding classes very difficult. Once you did manage to find the room the classes themselves were quite an adventure.

Every Wednesday night they studied the night sky and learned the names of stars and planets with Professor Mars while every Saturday night they had Astrology with Professor Neptune where they learned how the stars affected their lives. Four times a week they headed out to the Greenhouses behind the school and studied Herbology with Professor Flora (who was head of Hufflepuff), which Elle found mildly boring because she wasn't very interested in the boring plants they were learning about.

Easily the class that she found the most boring had to be History of Magic, which they had twice a week, and it was the only class taught by a ghost. It had been a slight shock to Elle when she'd first walked into the classroom and met Professor Binns who'd given a yelp and disappeared through the floor, mumbling something about 'she looks just like him'. When he was teaching he had no emotion to his voice and sent most of the kids to sleep, but Elle managed to stay awake and take down notes that helped to spell out the difference between Willy the Wise and Tilly the Silly.

Professor Cathol, the Charms teacher, was a very, _very _tall witch with long purple hair that was accented by her lilac robes. Elle found that there were two Professor Cathols, the one who enjoyed her students and the other that loathed being there with so many pesky little brats. Often times she'd stand at the back of the class and shout at some one for doing something (like sticking gum on the underside of the desk) because they thought the wasn't in the room.

Professor Hemming was one of their favorite teachers. She was the transfiguration teacher who acted very much like a student herself. Though she had her rules, Hemming loved her students and all their little personalities. Every one was most excited about Transfiguration after Hemming turned her desk into a little Shetland pony then back again before turning Noel's desk into a baby elephant and back. She smirked and said: "Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you'll learn here, and if its not done properly could mean death to any one of you. Any one messing around in my class gets the boot and doesn't come back, but if you do well, you just might learn a few tricks." At the end she flicked her wand and turned Nina's blue hair clip into a great big blue butterfly. Making all the girls ooh and ah.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was by far their favorite, however, when all the girls caught sight of Professor Halvord who was not at all bad looking. Elle was able to grab one of the front desks with Lyn as they entered the class. "Well, isn't this charming? Fresh meat for the cutting board! Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts! I'm Professor Halvord and I'm only about 13 years older than yourselves, I know a shock isn't it?" He said playfully as he walked down the row of desk, he was extremely good looking with longish bark brown hair and intense blue eyes that froze some people with their stair. It was a pretty basic class that started off with note taking, but Elle found it quite fun. He would quiz the students on little bits of trivia that had to do with some basic defensive spells and their effects. Elle did; however, feel as if she'd met Professor Halvord already, it was an odd felling.

Thursday was very important to the first year Gryffindors because it was their first potions class of the year, and Elle was terrified for some odd reason. She didn't know if it was the Professor himself or just the thought of having a class she had no clue what to do in. She and Lyn grabbed seats next to Noel and Blake who'd they had become friends with.

"I'm really worried about Potions today," Blake confessed as they were all seated, " I mean, Professor Ulric is head of Slytherin right? Isn't Slytherin like the sworn enemy of Gryffindor?"

"Henry says he's really cool," Elle said as she munched on a piece of toast.

"Yeah, even if he's a tad scary looking," Lyn said with her mouth full, "my brother says he's a pretty even guy, doesn't really favor anybody." As she finished her sentence the mail came. Elle was used to this now, though on the first day it had scared the wits out of her when the hundreds of owls had streamed down to their owners, dropping letters or packages. Elle had gotten a letter from Ms. Fawn saying how she'd taken in some new orphans, but other than Moon Face had been almost non existent, and this morning Elle didn't even notice her coming in. The barn owl snapped at her finger making Elle jump before she looked at the owl, it had a small package ready for her. Her heart leaped as she recognized the even script on the note card.

"Oh my god!" Elle gasped as she untied the string that held the white paper together and it fell away to reveal a little box with the same even script. She carefully opened the box and gasped at the beautiful silver hear shaped locket that lay inside on a thick silver chain.

"Wow!" Lyn said as she spied the necklace, "who's it from?" She stared at Elle stupidly before she could find words.

"My parents," The words were no more than a whisper as she was in disbelief, she tucked her hand in her pocket and fingered the little note that had been on the first parcel she'd gotten.

"How do you know, I thought you were an orphan?" Shaun asked as he leaned over the table to get a look at the necklace. "There's also no signature, how could you know its not some trick?"

"'Cause of this!" She snapped as she took the other note out of her pocket and held the two next to each other, "Same handwriting and everything! It even says: To Ella. No one calls me Ella and when I asked my guardian why she said it was because only my parents had ever called me that and she didn't want to take their place. Understand genius?" Elle really, really didn't like Shaun at this point he was too nosy for her taste.

"Well," Lyn said, "put it on! Let's see how it looks!" Elle nodded and picked up the locket but dropped it immediately as her vision flashed. "What's wrong?" Lyn asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Elle said as she carefully picked it up again, but nothing happened. She tried to open the locket, but it wouldn't come unfastened and she scowled at it a moment before she inspected the inscriptions on it. On one side it said: E, and on the other it said: H.

"What's that?" Noel asked as he nodded to the box, another note sat inside it. Elle set down the locket before she unfolded the parchment. She was speechless and had to let Lyn read it out loud. "It says: _Ella, this belonged to your mother, keep it say, it is your key_. What does that mean?"

"I have no idea," Elle said as she again carefully picked up the locket and fastened it around her neck. "Well, how does it look?" She got approval from all of her friends and even an admiring glance from the twins as they walked out of the Great Hall and head down to the dungeons where their Potions class would be held, and it was absolutely infuriating to Elle.

The classroom was large, round and extremely cold. It would also have been much less creepy without the eerie green and blue lights that spiraled the room in thin strips that glittered like a reflection off water. These lights illuminated the cracked glass mirrors that lined the walls in the place of windows. It was also really creepy because of all the glass jars behind the Professor's desk that held all type of different things Elle didn't even want to know and an odd green flame burned in the grate at the back of the room.

Ulric was the first to do a roll call, and paused when he reached Elle's name, he paused slightly and looked up at her crossly. She then got the feeling that he had some dislike of her, but she had no clue how wrong she was. "Ah yes, another one of the Hawkins orphans," he said coolly. Elle heard Sierra Lestrange and her friends snicker at his remark. He finished calling names before he set the list down and spun to face Elle, his eyes were a strange shade of gray that held all the coldness she'd ever known, and she felt her vision flash again, but only slightly. _Take her and run._ She blinked as the voice shouted in her head; it sounded something like Professor Halvord, only a slightly younger version of his voice.

"Let's see if you're any smarter than your idiot brother Edward," He said as she strode to Elle's desk, "tell me Ellerianna, What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Elle knew this trick, Will had been nice enough to warn her about it, but she'd been bored enough to read her entire potions book last night, "Asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so strong it is known as the Draught of Living Death." She glared at him as he gave her a smirk.

"True," he turned away and that the end of his interrogation and Elle felt like she'd won big time. "By the way, 5 points to Gryffindor," he said over his shoulder. The class went downhill form there. Noel was scared to death of Professor Ulric and everything to do with potions (it was also extremely dangerous for Noel to do the most simplest of spells, he had little magical talent). He misread the directions and made the mistake of adding the hunks of birch bark before the beat pulp and set the entire mix on fire. Elle was then the one who had to fix it, for some reason every question Professor Ulric had was directed at her and after a while she refused to answer, it was juts plain irritating. Finally class ended and Elle was the first one out.

Friday was one of their best Herbology lessons; it was actually out in the Forbidden Forest. Alphonse was there to help keep watch as the first years scrambled around a clearing documenting all the different basic plants that were in the area. In this short lesson, Elle found herself talking with Alphonse for most of it (Lyn had had an allergic reaction to something on their way into the forest). He helped her identify a vine plant she'd never seen before, and some how they got onto the subject of magical segregation and the bias against nearly human creatures.

"I really find it quite troublesome," Alphonse said as he looked up at the sky to gauge the time.

"I think it's unfair," Elle said. She was sitting on a fallen log, her legs swinging over the side, "Centaurs are some of the wisest creatures on earth, a little cryptic at times, but very cool by my standards."

"Thank you, Elle," he said carefully. It was very difficult for Alphonse to be informal, it was a struggle, but she applauded him.

"Nice work! See, soon enough you'll be talkin' jus' like us!" Elle joked as Alphonse shook his head.

"If I ever use such language I think I should sooner end myself!" Elle laughed, she found Alphonse to be very interesting and a joy to be around. It wouldn't be long till she had an easier name for him other than 'Alphonse'.

"Hey Fonzi," She slapped her hands over her mouth, she hadn't meant to call him that.

"No, Elle! I like it! If I'm going to call you by your nickname, I should have one as well. If we are going to remain friends it seems only normal. I do believe, however, that we should soon be returning to the school," He turned to call to the Professor, "Professor Flora, it is getting late, we should return to the school."

"Thank you Alphonse! You heard that! Pack up you lot!" With that they headed back up to the school and Elle chalked another name up on the friends board!


End file.
